The Rat Race SHEFFIELD Urban Adventure Race
What did you do this weekend?
Camracers New Recruits / 07.08.2009
Well after I left work at 12pm on Saturday I clambered into a car, ready-packed by my better half “Benâ€Â?. We were on our way to “the steel cityâ€Â? for the inaugural Sheffiled Rat Race urban adventure. As we had to be in the event village by no later than 3pm to register it was a tense 2 and a quarter hour journey, especially as we hit some 10 miles of road works. Nonetheless we made it to the Arundel Gate Car Park for 2.25pm which we thought was adequate time to make it to the event village which was just round the corner... except it wasn’t just round the corner.
I can’t overstate how lucky we were to run into 3 ready-prepared “rattiesâ€Â? easily spotted in their Endure Rat Race t-shirts and bright Rat Race Buffs. We quickly followed them for about half a mile to the super secret location of the event village ... so secret that half the competitors didn’t even know where it was ... or maybe we were just being thick? After a few downpours later and some hasty marking up of the checkpoints we were on the start line ready to rat. We were off rushing around the steel city to every check point bar one on the mean streets challenge.
So what did I do this weekend ...?
I sang “Show me the way to Amarilloâ€Â? to an audience from a large stage in city hall? Swam fully clothed the wrong way around a water parks wild rapids, scrambled up a river bed, watched Ben scramble up the slipperiest tree in Sheffield, attempted to boulder round a climbing wall but failed miserably after watching dozens of other people fall off this “easyâ€Â? challenge! Tried out a skateboard for the first time, learnt how to make an origami flower, got soaked by running into the middle of the Peace Fountain, flipped and caught 24 beer mats in a pub, threw some shapes on the dance-floor, memorised a poem, took a tram ride on a super tram and that was all just the Saturday night escapade ...
<b>A Whole New Game</b>
Sunday was a whole new ball game, after a restless night we were up at the crack of dawn to collect a route book and mark up our A-Z maps. This was done with more haste than speed and we paid later for our lack of attention to detail. At the starter’s orders we were off once again to rat out the steel city for checkpoints, this time just five dibs and no challenges and then we got to rest our weary feet as we jumped on the bikes.
SleepMonsters
